Egyp President Abdel Fattah Al Sissi said security measures taken by his country along the border with Gaza were not aimed at “harming” Palestinians, Gulf News reported.
“The measures taken by Egypt to secure its eastern borders are in full coordination with the Palestinian Authority and cannot have the aim of harming our Palestinian brothers in the Gaza Strip,” Al Sissi was quoted as saying in a statement sent by his office.
“The measures seek to protect the Egyptian borders and maintain Egyptian and Palestinian national security,” it added.
The Egyptian leader reportedly made the comments during a meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in New York, where they are attending the United Nations General Assembly.
Egypt began creating a wide buffer zone along the Gaza border in late 2014 in a bid to destroy the hundreds of smuggling tunnels Cairo says are used by Palestinian activists to deliver weapons to jihadists who are battling Egyptian forces in the Sinai peninsula.
In recent weeks, Egypt has also been carrying out digging work in the area that Palestinians believe is intended to flood the last remaining tunnels between Gaza and the Sinai.
Since 2013, militant groups have stepped up their attacks against Egyptian security forces in the northern Sinai Peninsula.
Tunnels have long been used to transport people and goods in and out of Gaza. Egypt controls the only crossing into Gaza not overseen by Israel.